Creating and Using Service Control Functions

ABSTRACT

Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for creating and using service control functions. The service control functions can detect a message via an adapter function. The message can relate to a service controlled by the service control functions. Service policies can be accessed. The service policies can include message handling policies and can be accessed to determine if a policy relating to the message exists. If a determination is made that the policy exists, the message and the policy can be analyzed to determine an action to take with respect to the message, and the action can be initiated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/817,411, entitled “Creating and Using ServiceControl Functions,” filed Nov. 20, 2017, now allowed, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety; and which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/529,465, entitled “Creating and Using Service Control Functions,”filed Oct. 31, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,825,813, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Service creation, maintenance, and delivery have evolved over the pastseveral years. One area that has changed services is the advent ofvirtualization. For example, the European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute (“ETSI”) network functions virtualization (“NFV”), softwaredefined networking (“SDN”), and other “cloud” computing architecturesand technologies have resulted in a change to the traditionalhardware-software model or paradigm. For example, services can becreated and deployed on commercial-off-the-shelf (“COTS”) hardware,which can allow flexibility in terms of scaling, locating, and/or usingthe services. Building services that were designed for deployment ondedicated infrastructure and instead deploying these same services in avirtualized infrastructure may not provide the benefits of using avirtualized network. Similarly, accommodating message routing betweenservice components used to provide a virtualized service may requireincreased complexity of the virtualized service relative to servicesbuilt on a dedicated infrastructure. Thus, while virtualization mayprovide flexibility to network operators and other entities, severalchallenges pose difficulties in migrating services to virtualizednetworks.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to creating and using service controlfunctions. A service control function can include and/or can interactwith various elements. The elements can include, but are not limited to,one or more service controller, one or more message handler, one or moreadaptor function, one or more service inventory, one or more servicerecipes, one or more service policies, one or more service analyticselements (“service analytics”), combinations thereof, or the like. Theservice control function also can communicate and/or interact with acommon data collection, analytics, and event handling (“DCAE”) processor element. In some embodiments, the service control function also cansupport communications with a higher level service control functionand/or a lower service control function arranged in a hierarchicalservice control arrangement. The service control functions can existwith the service scope and can manage components of the service such as,for example, VSFs, EMFs, VSFMFs, combinations thereof, or the like. Theservice control functions can manage orchestration, scaling, and lifecycle of the services and/or service functions. The service controlfunctions also can manage error, event, or message handling; obtaininginformation from services and/or components thereof, or the like.

The service controller can operate as the “brain” of the service controland/or the service control function. The service controller can monitorthe service to ensure performance, to detect errors, or the like. Theservice controller also can manage inventory such as the serviceinventory, support updating of the inventories (the service inventoryand/or a general inventory), and/or reconcile the inventories. Theadapter functions can be configured to support or enable communicationsbetween the service control function and other elements of the controlsystem or the service control such as, for example, the VSFs, the EMFs,the VSFMFs, or the like. The adapter functions also can supportcommunications between the service control function and lower levelservice control functions and/or the service control function and higherlevel service control functions. The adapter function can adaptprotocols of messages received at the service control function into aformat or protocol that can be understood and/or acted on by the servicecontrol function.

The message handler can be configured to receive events or messages andto determine where the message is to be routed based upon messagehandling policies and/or the message contents. The message handlingpolicies can be included in the service policies, in some embodiments,though this is not necessarily the case. The message handler can beconfigured to receive a message, to analyze the message, and to identifyrouting for the message based upon the analysis. In some embodiments,the message handler can route the messages to the service controller,the service analytics, other entities, or the like. In some embodiments,the message handler can route messages to multiple entities. Forexample, the message handler can route messages to the servicecontroller for various actions and also can route the message (or a copyof the message) to the service analytics for analysis and/or furtheractions.

The service policies can include policies used by the service controlfunction and/or the service control as illustrated and described herein.The service policies can include, but are not limited to, servicemanagement policies that can be used by the service controller to makedecisions on service-related messages (e.g., scaling, termination,instantiation, etc.), message handling policies that can be used by themessage handler and/or other elements (e.g., the service analytics) toroute messages and/or to direct messages to various entities, and/orservice analytics policies that can be used to perform analysis.

The service recipes can include recipes for creating services and/orcomponents of the services such as the service control functions. Theservice recipes can reflect the components of the services and/or howthe components are to be configured and/or instantiated according tovarious embodiments. The service recipes also can identifyinfrastructure that will be used to support services and/or servicecomponents such as the service control functions or the like. In someembodiments, the service control functions can be created based upon theservice recipes and/or deployed to infrastructure identified by theservice recipes.

The service analytics can be configured to analyze messages and/orevents to monitor performance of services and/or to trigger responses toperformance issues. For example, the service analytics can be configuredto analyze a message and determine, based upon the message and/orservice policies, that a threshold has been reached (e.g., computethreshold, bandwidth threshold, or the like). Based upon thisdetermination, the service analytics can determine what action should betaken (e.g., suspend the threshold, move the threshold, scale theservice and/or components thereof, combinations thereof, or the like).

According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosedherein, a method is disclosed. The method can include receiving, at acontrol system including a processor, a message via an adapter function.The message can relate to a service controlled by a service controlfunction. The method also can include accessing, by the control system,message handling policies to determine if a message handling policyrelating to the message exists. If a determination is made that themessage handling policy exists, the method can include analyzing, by thecontrol system, the message and the message handling policy to determinerouting for the message, and routing, by the control system, the messagein accordance with the routing determined. If a determination is madethat the message handling policy does not exist, the method can includerouting, by the control system, the message to an alternativedestination.

In some embodiments, the adapter function can translate the message froma first format to a second format. The second format can include aformat used by the service control function. In some embodiments, thealternative destination can include a higher level service controlfunction. In some embodiments, the alternative destination can includean operations management function. In some embodiments, the message canbe received from a peer domain scope controller associated with a domainscope selected from the group including an infrastructure scope and anetwork scope.

In some embodiments, the message can be received from a component of aservice, and the service can include a virtual service function and avirtual service function management function. In some embodiments, themessage can be received from a master operations management function. Insome embodiments, the method also can include accessing, by the controlsystem, service policies that define handling of the message,determining, by the control system, an action to take with respect tothe message based upon contents of the message and the service policies,and initiating, by the control system, the action based upon thedetermining. In some embodiments, the action can include forwarding acopy of the message to a service data collection, analytics, and eventhandling process provided by a message handler and a service analyticselement.

In some embodiments, the service policies can include the messagehandling policies, service analytics policies, and service managementpolicies. In some embodiments, the service control function can becreated by a master operations management function. Creating the servicecontrol function can include detecting a service creation request,determining, based upon the service creation request, that the servicecontrol function does not exist and is to be created, obtaining aservice control function recipe, requesting, from an infrastructurecontrol element, instantiation of resources to host the service controlfunction, and deploying an image of the service control function to theresources.

According to another aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosedherein, a system is disclosed. The system can include a processor and amemory. The memory can store computer-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations.The operations can include receiving a message via an adapter function,the message relating to a service controlled by a service controlfunction; accessing service policies including message handling policiesto determine if a policy relating to the message exists; and in responseto a determination that the policy exists, analyzing the message and thepolicy to determine an action to take with respect to the message, andinitiating the action determined.

In some embodiments, the policy can include a message handling policy,the action can include routing the message, and initiating the actioncan include forwarding the message along a route determined. In someembodiments, the policy can include a service analytics policy, theaction can include conducting analysis relating to the message using aservice analytics element, and initiating the action can includeforwarding the message to the service analytics element. In someembodiments, the action can include routing the message to a serviceanalytics element and routing the message to a service controller. Insome embodiments, the service control function can be created bydetecting a service creation request; determining, based upon theservice creation request, that the service control function does notexist and can be created; obtaining a service control function recipe;requesting, from an infrastructure control element, instantiation ofresources to host the service control function; and deploying an imageof the service control function to the resources.

According to yet another aspect, a computer storage medium is disclosed.The computer storage medium can have stored thereon computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform operations. The operations can include receiving a message viaan adapter function, the message relating to a service controlled by aservice control function; accessing service policies including messagehandling policies to determine if a policy relating to the messageexists; and in response to a determination that the policy exists,analyzing the message and the policy to determine an action to take withrespect to the message, and initiating the action determined.

In some embodiments, the policy can include a message handling policy,the action can include routing the message, and initiating the actioncan include forwarding the message along a route determined. In someembodiments, the policy can include a service analytics policy, theaction can include conducting analysis relating to the message using aservice analytics element, and initiating the action can includeforwarding the message to the service analytics element. In someembodiments, the service control function can be created by detecting aservice creation request; determining, based upon the service creationrequest, that the service control function does not exist and is to becreated; obtaining a service control function recipe; requesting, froman infrastructure control element, instantiation of resources to hostthe service control function; and deploying an image of the servicecontrol function to the resources.

Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according toembodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponreview of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computerprogram products be included within this description, be within thescope of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an illustrative operatingenvironment for various embodiments of the concepts and technologiesdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing some aspects of a service control,according to various embodiments of the concepts and technologiesdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for deploying aservice control function, according to an illustrative embodiment of theconcepts and technologies described herein.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for providingmessage handling at a service control function, according to anillustrative embodiment of the concepts and technologies describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for providingmessage handling at a service control function for peer scope controllermessages, according to an illustrative embodiment of the concepts andtechnologies described herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for providingmessage handling at a service control function for higher-level elementmessages, according to an illustrative embodiment of the concepts andtechnologies described herein.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for executing adata collection, analytics, and event handling process at a servicecontrol function, according to an illustrative embodiment of theconcepts and technologies described herein.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for providingmessage handling at a service control function, according to anotherillustrative embodiment of the concepts and technologies describedherein.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for creating eventsat a service control function, according to an illustrative embodimentof the concepts and technologies described herein.

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates a network, according to anillustrative embodiment of the concepts and technologies describedherein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer systemconfigured to create, host, interact with, and/or use service controlfunctions, according to some illustrative embodiments of the conceptsand technologies described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is directed to creating and usingservice control functions. A service control function can include and/orcan interact with various elements. The elements can include, but arenot limited to, one or more service controller, one or more messagehandler, one or more adaptor function, one or more service inventory,one or more service recipes, one or more service policies, one orservice analytics elements (“service analytics”), combinations thereof,or the like. The service control function also can communicate and/orinteract with a common DCAE. In some embodiments, the service controlfunction can support communications with a higher level service controlfunction and/or a lower service control function arranged in ahierarchical service control arrangement. The service control functionscan exist with the service scope and can manage components of theservice such as, for example, VSFs, EMFs, VSFMFs, combinations thereof,or the like. The service control functions can manage orchestration,scaling, and life cycle of the services and/or service functions. Theservice control functions, also can manage error, event, or messagehandling; obtaining information from services and/or components thereof,or the like.

The service controller can operate as the “brain” of the service controland/or the service control function. The service controller can monitorthe service to ensure performance, to detect errors, or the like. Theservice controller also can manage inventory such as the serviceinventory, support updating of the inventories (the service inventoryand/or a general inventory), and/or reconcile the inventories. Theadapter functions can be configured to support or enable communicationsbetween the service control function and other elements, services, orfunctions such as, for example, the VSFs, the EMFs, the VSFMFs, otherscope domain controllers, elements of the control system, combinationsthereof, or the like. The adapter functions also can supportcommunications between the service control function and lower levelservice control functions and/or the service control function and higherlevel service control functions. The adapter function can adaptprotocols of messages received at the service control function into aformat or protocol that can be understood and/or acted on by the servicecontrol function.

The message handler can be configured to receive events or messages andto determine where the message is to be routed based upon messagehandling policies and/or the message contents. The message handlingpolicies can be included in the service policies, in some embodiments,though this is not necessarily the case. The message handler can beconfigured to receive a message, to analyze the message, and to identifyrouting for the message based upon the analysis. In some embodiments,the message handler can route the messages to the service controller,the service analytics, other entities, or the like. In some embodiments,the message handler can route messages to multiple entities. Forexample, the message handler can route messages to the servicecontroller for various actions and also can route the message (or a copyof the message) to the service analytics for analysis and/or furtheractions.

The service policies can include policies used by the service controlfunction and/or the service control as illustrated and described herein.The service policies can include, but are not limited to, servicemanagement policies that can be used by the service controller to makedecisions on service-related messages (e.g., scaling, termination,instantiation, etc.), message handling policies that can be used by themessage handler and/or other elements (e.g., the service analytics) toroute messages and/or to direct messages to various entities, and/orservice analytics policies that can be used to perform analysis. Theservice recipes can include recipes for creating services and/orcomponents of the services such as the service control functions.

The service recipes can reflect the components of the services and/orhow the components are to be configured and/or instantiated according tovarious embodiments. The service recipes also can identifyinfrastructure that will be used to support services and/or servicecomponents such as the service control functions or the like. In someembodiments, the service control functions can be created based upon theservice recipes and/or deployed to infrastructure identified by theservice recipes.

The service analytics can be configured to analyze messages and/orevents to monitor performance of services and/or to trigger responses toperformance issues. For example, the service analytics can be configuredto analyze a message and determine, based upon the message and/orservice policies, that a threshold has been reached (e.g., computethreshold, bandwidth threshold, or the like). Based upon thisdetermination, the service analytics can determine what action should betaken (e.g., suspend the threshold, move the threshold, scale theservice and/or components thereof, combinations thereof, or the like).

While the subject matter described herein is presented in the generalcontext of program modules that execute in conjunction with theexecution of an operating system and application programs on a computersystem, those skilled in the art will recognize that otherimplementations may be performed in combination with other types ofprogram modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,components, data structures, and other types of structures that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matterdescribed herein may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 1, aspects of an operating environment 100 forvarious embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed hereinfor creating services using service modules will be described, accordingto an illustrative embodiment. The operating environment 100 shown inFIG. 1 includes a computing system that can host a network controlframework (hereinafter referred to as a “control system”) 102. Thecontrol system 102 can operate on, in communication with, and/or as apart of a communications network (“network”) 104. Additional aspects ofthe network 104 are illustrated and described below with reference toFIG. 6. Briefly, it should be understood that the network 104 caninclude almost any type of computer network as well as communicationsnetworks.

According to various embodiments, the functionality of the controlsystem 102 may be provided by one or more server computers,workstations, desktop computers, laptop computers, other computingsystems, combinations thereof, or the like. In some embodiments, thefunctionality of the control system 102 can be provided by a distributedcomputing system that can host processing and/or storage resources thatcollectively can be configured to provide the functionality illustratedand described herein. Thus, it should be understood that thefunctionality of the control system 102 can be provided by a singledevice, by two similar devices, and/or by two or more dissimilardevices. For purposes of describing the concepts and technologiesdisclosed herein, the control system 102 is described herein asincluding a server computer. It should be understood that thisembodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

The device that hosts the control system 102 can execute an operatingsystem (not shown in FIG. 1) and one or more application programs thatcan provide the functionality of the control system 102 illustrated anddescribed herein. The operating system can include a computer programfor controlling the operation of the device, and the applicationprograms can include executable programs configured to execute on top ofthe operating system to provide various functions as illustrated anddescribed herein. Thus, while the control system 102 is illustrated anddescribed as including multiple elements, it should be understood thatthe functionality of the elements shown in FIG. 1 can be provided byapplication modules executed by a single device, in some embodiments. Insome other embodiments, the functionality of the elements shown in FIG.1 can be provided by multiple devices that can host one or more elementsof the control system 102. As such, the illustrated and describedembodiment should be understood as being illustrative of onecontemplated embodiment of the concepts and technologies describedherein and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control system 102 can include an operationsmanagement controller 106. The operations management controller 106 canbe configured to provide control and management of the control system102 and/or the various elements thereof. According to variousembodiments, the operations management controller 106 can provide highlevel and end-to-end control of services, creation of services, and/ormanagement of services. The operations management controller 106 canmanage services across multiple scopes (e.g., through infrastructure,network, and service scopes), and can control and orchestrate servicecreation and management as illustrated and described herein.

The operations management controller 106 can serve as a master serviceorchestrator (“MSO”) for the control system 102. The operationsmanagement controller 106 can instantiate new services based upon“recipes” that can be stored in a service creation database 108 orelsewhere as illustrated and described herein. The operations managementcontroller 106 also can use information stored in the inventory 110 whencreating new services. The operations management controller 106 also caninstantiate scope control domain entities (e.g., controllers forinfrastructure, network resources, and/or service functions), as will beexplained in more detail below.

The operations management controller 106 can handle messages and/orexceptions that can be generated by the operations management controller106 and/or exceptions that may be passed to the operations managementcontroller 106 from the scope control domain (e.g., the controllers forthe infrastructure, network resources, and/or the service functions) aswill be illustrated and described below in more detail. The operationsmanagement controller 106 also can run a high level data collection,analytics, and event handling (“DCAE”) process to analyze data relatingto services and/or the various components for managing the servicesand/or its associated infrastructure, network, and service components.The operations management controller 106 also can run a policy decisionfunction using a high level set of policies for service creation and/orcontrol.

As mentioned above, the service creation database 108 can defineproducts and services using definitions of components of services suchas hardware, software, and/or transport that can be referred to hereinas “recipes” or “service recipes.” The recipes can specify one or morecomponents of a service and a process or operations for putting thecomponents together. Thus, the recipes may involve a service scope(e.g., a set of service functions), a network scope (e.g., a set ofnetwork functions and/or information indicating how network transport isto be established, maintained, and/or used), and an infrastructure scope(e.g., where on the network 104 the network and service functions are tobe located). The recipes also can implicitly or explicitly specifywhether the various components of the service should be tightly coupledtogether and/or loosely coupled together, as will be explained in moredetail below. It should be understood that the term “service” also caninclude an “application,” and that the term “service” is not used tolimit the concepts and technologies described herein in any way. Theservice creation database 108 can be used by a service provider, bythird parties, and/or by customers.

The inventory 110 can maintain or reflect up-to-date information aboutresource utilization. The information can include a total number ofresources, an amount of available resources, an amount of resources inuse, or the like. It should be understood that the “resources” caninclude infrastructure resources, network resources, and/or serviceresources. Thus, the inventory 110 can be used to understand whatresources (in terms of infrastructure, network, and/or service) exist,what resources are in use, and/or what resources are free or available.

According to various embodiments, the inventory 110 can reside entirelywithin a control domain (e.g., within a service domain, network domain,or infrastructure domain) or outside of the domains, e.g., in aninventory and/or data structure that is hosted outside of thecontrollers illustrated and described herein. Thus, in some embodimentsthe inventory 110 can include data indicating or reflecting allinventory (infrastructure, network, and service) for the entire network104 and/or the elements in communication with the network 104. Thus, theinventory 110 can provide end-to-end active view capability for activeand/or inactive resources across all scopes of the control system 102.

In some other embodiments, the inventory 110 may be divided across thescope controllers so that each controller can have a local inventorythat relates to that controller's scope. A controller for theinfrastructure domain, for example, can maintain an infrastructureinventory. Similarly, controllers for network and service scopes canmaintain scope-specific inventories. An inventory for the scope domainis illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 2 below. Even ifscope-specific inventories are provided, the inventory 110 still canprovide end-to-end viewing capability for the divided inventoryembodiment, if desired. It should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

According to various embodiments, the operations management controller106 can communicate with one or more infrastructure control elements orcontrollers (collectively referred to herein as “infrastructurecontrol”) 112. The infrastructure control 112 can manage assets ofnetwork infrastructure (“infrastructure”) 114. Thus, the infrastructurecontrol 112 can interact with the infrastructure 114 to instantiatevirtual resources such as virtual machines and/or virtual storagedevices and/or to allocate hardware resources that will host variousservice and/or network functions as illustrated and described herein.According to various embodiments, however, the infrastructure control112 may not manage networking functions and/or service functions, aswill be explained in more detail below.

The infrastructure control 112 can include and/or can execute a policyengine using an infrastructure set of policies. The infrastructurecontrol 112 also can handle infrastructure scope exceptions, in someembodiments. The infrastructure control 112 can include functionalityfor managing and orchestrating the infrastructure 114; infrastructureEMFs, which may manage various fault, configuration, accounting,performance, and security (“FCAPS”) capabilities; an infrastructuredata, collection, analytics, and events (“DCAE”) process (labeled as“INF DCAE” in FIG. 1) that can provide information to the controllerand/or to the operations management controller 106; a policy decisionfunction with infrastructure scope policies; and/or an infrastructureinventory function (labeled “INF Inventory” in FIG. 1) that canrepresent infrastructure-scoped inventory and usage information orprovide this information to the inventory 110. It should be understoodthat this example is illustrative and therefore should not be construedas being limiting in any way.

The infrastructure control 112 can receive instructions and/or requestsfrom the operations management controller 106 or other entities via anoperations management application programming interface (“API”) 116. Asshown in FIG. 1, there can be multiple APIs 116 that can be called oraccessed by various elements of the control system 102 to support thefunctionality illustrated and described herein. Although the APIs 116are given the same reference numeral in the drawings, it should beunderstood that one or more (or each) of the APIs 116 can use differenttechnologies (e.g., formats and/or semantics) to support calls to thevarious elements and/or to support the communications illustrated anddescribed herein. According to some embodiments, the API 116 between theinfrastructure control 112 and the operations management controller 106can correspond to an operations management (“OM”) API 116, though thisis not necessarily the case.

Similarly, the infrastructure control 112 can communicate with a networkcontrol device or controller (hereinafter collectively referred to asthe “network control”) 118 via a software defined networking (“SDN”) API116. Thus, it can be appreciated that the infrastructure control 112 andthe network control 118 can support SDN and virtualization technologiessimultaneously. As will be explained in more detail below, the networkcontrol 118 can be configured to create and manage virtual networkingfunctions (“VNFs”) 120 within the infrastructure 114. In some instances,the infrastructure control 112 also can load VM images with embeddedVNFs 120 (e.g., a virtual switch) in addition to, or instead of, thenetwork control 118. The functionality of the network control 118 willbe described in more detail below.

The infrastructure control 112 also can communicate with theinfrastructure 114 via an API 116. Thus, the infrastructure control 112can interact with the infrastructure 114 to instantiate resources and/orallocate hardware to support various functions as illustrated anddescribed herein. In addition to supporting the VNFs 120, theinfrastructure 114 also can interact with a service control device orcontroller (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “servicecontrol”) 122 to receive instructions for instantiating one or morevirtual service functions (“VSFs”) 124 within the infrastructure 114. AVSF 124 can include a virtualized application or application component,and can be used to create other services of various types including, butnot limited to, basic services, segmented services, and/or compositeservices as will be illustrated and described in more detail herein. Thefunctionality of the service control 122 and creation of various typesof services using the service control 122 will be described in moredetail below.

The operations management controller 106 also can communicate with thenetwork control 118. The network control 118 can be responsible formanagement, deployment, operation, and coordination of a transportnetwork for a particular service. According to various embodiments, thetransport network between one or more components of a service (e.g.,“service modules”) can be created by creating a group of one or moreVNFs 120 within the infrastructure 114. The transport network also caninclude physical network functions (“PNFs”) 126, which can be selectedfrom an available inventory of physical resources, configured, and/orcontrolled by the network control 118.

The transport network can include various VNFs 120, PNFs 126, and/orother networking functions. The PNFs 126 can include, for example,European Telecommunications Standards Institute PNFs (“ETSI PNFs”). Insome embodiments, the transport network may include other types ofnetworking functions such as leaf switches, spine switches, or the like,while in some other embodiments, leaf switches and/or spine switches maybe considered part of the infrastructure 114. The VNFs 120 can includevirtualized network functions that can exist in the network scope. Thus,according to various embodiments, the VNFs 120 can include virtualswitches (“vSwitches”), virtualized routing functions and/or virtualrouters, a virtual tap, or the like. Because the transport network caninclude other types of functions, it should be understood that theseexamples are illustrative and therefore should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

The network control 118 also can establish and manage software definednetworks, maintain a network scope resource inventory, run a networkscope data collection and analysis process, run a policy engine using anetwork scope set of policies, and handle network scope exceptions. Thenetwork control 118 can include a software defined network controller;one or more virtual network function management functions; one or morenetwork element management functions (“EMFs”), which can manage FCAPSfor network scoped services; a network DCAE process (labeled as “NWDCAE” in FIG. 1), which can provide information to the network control118 and/or the operations management controller 106; a network policyengine with network scope policies; and a network inventory function(labeled as “NW Inventory” in FIG. 1), which can provide network scopedinventory and usage information to the inventory 110.

According to various embodiments, the network control 118 can receiverequests from the operations management controller 106 via an API 116such as the OM API 116 discussed above. The requests from the operationsmanagement controller 106 received via the OM API 116 can instruct thenetwork control 118 to create, modify, and/or terminate one or morenetworking functions such as VNFs 120, PNFs 126, and/or someinfrastructure networking functions, if controlled or controllable bythe network control 118. These infrastructure networking functions caninclude network hardware (e.g., switches, leaf switches and spineswitches, or the like) and other infrastructure networking functions.Some other infrastructure networking functions (e.g., wires, physicalports, switches, leaf switches and spine switches (if not controlled bynetwork control 118), or the like), can be considered a part of theinfrastructure 114. The network control 118 also can be configured toreceive instructions to establish or modify transport using VNFs 120and/or PNFs 126 in addition to, or instead of, instantiating the VNFs120 and/or the PNFs 126. It should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

The network control 118 also can initiate requests to the infrastructurecontrol 112 via the OM API 116 to request and/or obtain additionalnetwork resources. For example, the network control 118 can request theinfrastructure control 112 to allocate one or more virtual machines(“VMs”) and load an image with an embedded VNF 120 to the VM. Thenetwork control 118 also can receive requests via an SDN API 116 frominfrastructure control 112 to create, modify, and/or terminatetransport. Thus, it can be appreciated that the network control 118 cansupport SDN and virtualization technologies simultaneously. It should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

The operations management controller 106 also can communicate with theservice control 122. The service control 122 can be responsible formanagement, deployment, operation, and coordination of services.Services can be provided by and/or can include one or more VSFs 124,non-virtualized service functions (“NVSFs”) 128, one or more EMFs 130,one or more VSF management functions (labeled “VSFMFs” in FIG. 1) 132,combinations thereof, or the like.

According to various embodiments, the services and/or service components(“service modules”) can be created by the service control 122 bycreating a group of one or more VSFs 124 and/or NVSFs 128 within theinfrastructure 114. Thus, it should be understood that the NVSFs 128 canbe created and/or controlled by the service control 122. The servicecontrol 122 can create three or more types of services including, butnot limited to, basic services, segmented services, and/or compositeservices. It also should be understood that the operations managementcontroller 106 can create the VSFs 124 and initiate requests to theinfrastructure 114 and network control 118. As such, it should beunderstood that the operations management controller 106 and/or theservice control 122 can create a service, depending upon a degree ofdelegation awarded to the service control 122 by the operationsmanagement controller 106 when the operations management controller 106created the service control 122.

According to various embodiments, the service control 122 also canmaintain a service scope resource inventory (labeled “Ser Inventory” inFIG. 1). The service scope resource inventory can be maintained at theservice control 122, in some embodiments, and can provide service scoperesource inventory and usage information to the inventory 110. Theservice control 122 can also run a service scope DCAE (labeled as “SerDCAE” in FIG. 1) to analyze messages and/or events occurring within orrelating to services, service components, and/or service functions suchas the VSFs 124 and the NVSFs 128.

The service control 122 also can run a policy engine for a service scopeset of policies. Thus, service-specific policies can be applied and/orused by the service control 122 when creating services, servicecomponents, and/or service functions such as the VSFs 124 and/or theNVSFs 128. The service control 122 also can handle service scopeexceptions, in some embodiments. As noted above, the operationsmanagement controller 106 also can create services, service components,and/or service functions depending upon the degree to which theoperations management controller 106 delegates control to the servicecontrol 122. It should be understood that these example components ofthe service control 122 are illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

The service control 122 can be responsible for management and control ofservices and/or the components or functions of the services. Accordingto various embodiments, the service control 122 can manage VSFs 124and/or NVSFs 128 of services being controlled. The service control 122also can handle service EMFs, which can manage FCAPS for services beingcontrolled. The service DCAE process can provide information to theservice control 122 and/or the operations management controller 106. Theservice control 122 also can include a service policy engine, which canapply and/or enforce service scope policies. The service inventory canprovide service scope inventory and/or usage information to theinventory 110.

According to various embodiments, the service control 122 can receiverequests from the operations management controller 106 via an API 116such as the OM API 116 discussed above. The requests from the operationsmanagement controller 106 received via the OM API 116 can instruct theservice control 122 to create, modify, and/or terminate one or moreservice functions such as VSFs 124, the NVSFs 128, and the like. Itshould be understood that this example is illustrative and thereforeshould not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The service control 122 also can initiate requests to the infrastructurecontrol 112 via the OM API 116 to request and/or obtain additionalinfrastructure resources and/or other resources. The service control 122also can initiate requests via an SDN API 116 to the network control118. Thus, it can be appreciated that the service control 122 cansupport SDN and virtualization technologies simultaneously. Theserequests can be configured to request creation, modification, and/ortermination of service related transport (e.g., transport betweenservice functions and/or service control functions). It should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

The APIs 116 illustrated and described herein can include two or moretypes of APIs 116. In some embodiments, as mentioned above, the APIs 116can include an OM API 116 and/or SDN APIs 116. The APIs 116 can beexposed by some or all of the components within the control system 102.The APIs 116 can be exposed by the components to each other, for variouspurposes. For example, the APIs 116 can include an operations managementAPI 116, which can be exposed by the operations management controller106; infrastructure APIs 116, which can be exposed by the infrastructurecontrol 112; network APIs 116, which can be exposed by the networkcontrol 118; and service APIs 116, which can be exposed by the servicecontrol 122. Thus, it can be appreciated that the control system 102 andthe components thereof can support SDN and virtualization technologiessimultaneously.

The APIs 116 can be used to enable operational management within thecontrol system 102 and between the control system 102 and theinfrastructure 114. The APIs 116 can be exposed in either direction. Assuch, the APIs 116 can be exposed in a southbound direction, e.g., fromthe operations management controller 106 to the infrastructure control112, the network control 118, or the service control 122; from theinfrastructure control 112 to the infrastructure 114; from the networkcontrol 118 to the VNFs 120 loaded to the infrastructure 114; and/orfrom the service control 122 to the VSFs 124 loaded to theinfrastructure 114. The APIs 116 also can enable communications in anorthbound direction, e.g., the APIs 116 can enable the VNFs 120 toaccess the network control 118; the VSFs 124 to access or communicatewith the service control 122; and the infrastructure 114 to access theinfrastructure control 112. Similarly, the APIs 116 can be accessed bythe infrastructure control 112, the network control 118, and/or theservice control 122 to enable access to the operations managementcontroller 106. It should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

The SDN APIs 116 can be exposed by the network control 118 to theoperations management controller 106, the infrastructure control 112,and the service control 122. The SDN APIs 116 can enable the operationsmanagement controller 106, the infrastructure control 112, and theservice control 122 to make requests to the network control 118 for SDNservices. It should be understood that this example is illustrative andtherefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

By creating, allocating, and/or instantiating the VNFs 120, the PNFs126, the VSFs 124 the NVSFs 128, the EMFs 130, the VSF managementfunctions 132, and/or combinations thereof, the control system 102 cancreate a service 134 on the infrastructure 114. It should be understoodthat this example is illustrative and therefore should not be construedas being limiting in any way.

According to various embodiments, the control system 102 can integratean enhanced control, orchestration, management, and policy framework(hereinafter referred to as “ECOMP”) 136, which can be integrated intothe control system 102. The ECOMP 136 can enable rapid service creationby combining pre-built components and/or functions. The ECOMP 136 alsocan enable dynamically elastic capacity management by enabling scalingand instantiation. The ECOMP 136 also can support control functions. Thecontrol functions can be driven by real-time analytics and policydecisions. The ECOMP 136 also can support unified operations,administration, and management across the three scopes (e.g.,infrastructure, network, and service). The ECOMP 136 also can supportoptimization of services 134 and/or the components, as well as analyticsof the services 134, components thereof, and/or the various componentsof the control system 102. As illustrated and described in the FIGURES,the ECOMP 136 can be an element of the control system 102, in someembodiments, while in other embodiments the control system 102 cancorrespond to an embodiment of the ECOMP 136. It should be understoodthat these examples are illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

The ECOMP 136 can include a service design and creation (“SDC”)environment, an active and available inventory (“AAI”), an operationsmanagement framework (“OMF”), and/or a service, infrastructure, and/ornetwork control. Thus, the ECOMP 136 can include, in some embodiments,the service creation database 108, the inventory 110, the operationsmanagement controller 106, and/or one or more of the infrastructurecontrol 112, the network control 118, and/or the service control 122. Itshould be understood that this example is illustrative and thereforeshould not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The SDC component of the ECOMP 136 can enable developers, servicedesigners, network planners/engineers, operations planners and productmanagers, other entities, or the like, to create, organize, prototype,and deploy services 134. In some embodiments, service definitions can beinstantiated by the OMF and the resulting service instances can berecorded in the AAI. According to various embodiments, componentsassociated with a service 134 can be created in the SDC component andstored as recipes. Thus, the SDC component can store recipes for VSFcomponents (“VSFCs”, which are illustrated and described with referenceto FIG. 2), VSFs 124, service components (illustrated and described withreference to FIG. 2), basic services (illustrated and described withreference to FIG. 2), segmented services (illustrated and described withreference to FIG. 2), composite services (illustrated and described withreference to FIG. 2), and various network and/or infrastructureresources. The recipes also can indicate whether or not variouscomponents of services 134 are to be tightly coupled, loosely coupled,or a combination thereof. It should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

As used in the description and the claims, the phrase “tightly couple”and/or variants thereof can be used to refer to service modules that arejoined, chained, and/or used together in a manner in which theinterdependency, coordination, and information flow between the servicemodules is high (relative to loosely coupled service modules) and as aresult, the probability that one service module may affect another ishigh (relative to loosely coupled service modules). Thus, the phrase“loosely couple” and/or variants thereof can be used to refer to servicemodules that have a relatively low interdependency, coordination, and/orinformation flow (relative to tightly coupled service modules) and/orservice modules that have a low probability of affecting one another.

According to various embodiments, it may be preferable to designservices that are loosely coupled as service modules that are looselycoupled may be reusable and/or may be simpler than tightly coupledservice modules. Such reusability may result in faster implementationtimes (for services that use the service modules) and/or more efficientuse of resources. Similarly, tightly coupled service modules may be morecomplex than loosely coupled components and may not be reusable. In someinstances, however, service modules may affect one another (evenunintentionally), and the service modules therefore may be tightlycoupled together through the use of a service control function toimprove performance and reliability. As noted above, the recipes used todesign and/or instantiate services can indicate (implicitly orexplicitly) if the service modules should be tightly coupled and/orloosely coupled, in some embodiments. According to various embodimentsof the concepts and technologies described herein, service modules canbe termed to be “tightly coupled” if a service control function controlsthe service modules. It should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

The AAI can provide real-time views of services, infrastructure, andnetworks in aggregate. The AAI can obtain the data from the servicecontrol 122 and the network control 118, and/or can supplement viewswith customer and account data. The OMF can provide and extend uponFCAPS capabilities through the use of analytics, policy, orchestration,and control functions. The OMF can be a repeating pattern of control,orchestration, DCAE, and policy management functions. It should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

In some embodiments, the OMF and service, infrastructure, and networkcontrol functions can form a series of closed loop control capabilities.These capabilities can be referred to as “operational control loops.”These “operational control loops” can be based on data and eventscollected and analyzed via the DCAE. Responsive actions can be basedupon policy, and may be taken by one or more of orchestration orcontroller functions. “Operational control loops” can be repeatingpatterns that may be implemented in various locations and supportingvarious scopes of operation.

In some embodiments, the OMF can interact with one or more businesssupport system (“BSS”) 138 and one or more operations support system(“OSS”) 140. The BSS 138 and the OSS 140 can be external to the ECOMP136, in some embodiments. The BSS 138 and the OSS 140 can interact withcustomers and operations in support of activities and aggregatecapabilities across UDNC and non-UDNC services.

Each instantiation of the OMF can be specifically tailored to the scopein which the OMF operates. The OMF may exist as a top-level end-to-endfunction that can be separate from service, infrastructure, and networkcontrol, and the platform components of the OMF may exist in variousplaces within service and network control. It should be understood thatthis example is illustrative and therefore should not be construed asbeing limiting in any way.

As mentioned above, although the operations management controller 106,the service creation database 108, the inventory 110, the infrastructurecontrol 112, the network control 118, the service control 122, and theECOMP 136 are illustrated as components of the control system 102, itshould be understood that each of these components, or combinationsthereof, may be embodied as or in stand-alone devices or componentsthereof operating as part of or in communication with the network 104and/or the control system 102. Thus, for example one or more of thesecomponents can be hosted by a server computer or other computing devicethat can access other devices via one or more of the APIs 116, and/orcan be accessed via one or more of the APIs 116. As such, theillustrated embodiment should be understood as being illustrative ofonly some contemplated embodiments and should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

In practice, the operations management controller 106 can detect arequest for a service 134. According to various embodiments, theoperations management controller 106 can detect a request to configureor reconfigure a service 134 or a request for a new service 134. In someembodiments of creating or scaling services 134, the operationsmanagement controller 106 can analyze one or more policies to determinehow the scaling or creation of the service 134 should be handled. Theoperations management controller 106 also can access the servicecreation database 108 to identify one or more “recipes” that can be usedto scale or create the service 134. The recipes can define servicecomponents including hardware, software, and/or transport.

The operations management controller 106 can access the inventory 110 todetermine if the resources needed to support the new or scaled service134 are available for use. The operations management controller 106 alsocan identify a service control 122 that is to handle the scaled orcreated service 134. It can be appreciated that in some embodiments, ascaled service 134 may be controlled by a service control 122 thatalready is controlling the components of a service 134. The operationsmanagement controller 106 can select, allocate, and/or create theservice control 122.

The operations management controller 106 also can instruct theinfrastructure control 112 to instantiate one or more VMs and to loadand validate VNFs 120 and/or VSFs 124 to the VMs. It should beunderstood that if the service is being scaled down, that theinfrastructure control 112 may de-allocate VMs, VNFs 120, and/or VSFs124 instead of instantiating the VMs, VNFs 120, and/or VSFs 124. Theinfrastructure control 112 can also instruct the network control 118 tocreate or establish transport between the VMs, the VNFs 120, the VSFs124, and/or the service control 122. In the case of scaled down services134, it can be appreciated that the network control may de-allocate ortear down transport. The network control 118 can report the event to thenetwork DCAE and/or update the network inventory (and/or the inventory110).

The service control 122 can receive instructions from the operationsmanagement controller 106 to instantiate or tear down one or more VSFs124. The service control 122 can report the event to a service DCAE andupdate the service inventory (and/or the inventory 110). The networkcontrol 118 also can receive instructions to establish transport betweenthe new VSFs 124 and report the event to the network DCAE for scaled upservices 134 and/or to tear down the VSFs 124 and report those events tothe network DCAE for scaled down services 134. The network control canestablish transport using VNFs 120 and/or PNFs 126. The operationsmanagement controller 106 can validate the scaled or created service 134end-to-end and/or update the inventory 110.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologiesdescribed herein, the service control 122 or the operations managementcontroller 106 can be used to create (allocate, instantiate, or design)various types of services such as the service 134. According to variousembodiments of the concepts and technologies described herein, theservice control 122 and/or the operations management controller 106 canbe used to create a service 134 by identifying one or more servicemodules or service components and identifying a service control functionthat is to control the service 134 and/or components thereof. If aservice control function does not exist (and therefore cannot beallocated), the service control function can be created as illustratedand described herein. Additional aspects of the service control functionwill be illustrated and described herein with reference to FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, the operations management controller 106 or one ormore elements of the service control 122 can be used to create (design,allocate, or instantiate) the services 134 and/or the service controlfunctions associated with the services 134. According to someembodiments, the operations management controller 106 or other elementsof the control system 102 can be configured to obtain a recipe for theservice control function, analyze the service control function recipe toidentify infrastructure that will support the service control function,request infrastructure control 112 to create the resources for theservice control function, and deploy and/or configure the servicecontrol function (e.g., an image of the service control function) to theresources. The service control function is illustrated and described inmore detail with reference to FIG. 2 below. Thus, the service controlfunction created in accordance with the concepts and technologiesdescribed herein can include the various elements illustrated anddescribed with reference to FIG. 2 and/or can perform the operationsillustrated and described herein with reference to FIGS. 3-8. It shouldbe understood that these examples are illustrative and therefore shouldnot be construed as being limiting in any way.

FIG. 1 illustrates one control system 102, one network 104, oneoperations management controller 106, one service creation database 108,one inventory 110, one infrastructure control 112, one instance ofinfrastructure 114, one network control 118, one service control 122,one service, one ECOMP 136, one BSS 138, and one OSS 140. It should beunderstood, however, that various implementations of the operatingenvironment 100 can include zero, one, or more than one control system102; zero, one, or more than one network 104; zero, one, or more thanone operations management controller 106; zero, one, or more than oneservice creation database 108; zero, one, or more than one inventory110; zero, one, or more than one infrastructure control 112; zero, one,or more than one instance of infrastructure 114; zero, one, or more thanone network control 118; zero, one, or more than one service control122; zero, one, or more than one service; zero, one, or more than oneECOMP 136; zero, one, or more than one BSS 138, and zero, one, or morethan one OSS 140. As such, the illustrated embodiment should beunderstood as being illustrative, and should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 2, aspects of a service control function 200 will bedescribed in accordance with various example embodiments of the conceptsand technologies described herein. As shown in FIG. 2, the servicecontrol 122 can include various elements and/or modules including, butnot limited to, a service control function 200. The service controlfunction 200 also can include and/or can interact with various elements.The elements can include, but are not limited to, one or more servicecontroller 202, one or more message handler 204, one or more adaptorfunction 206, one or more service inventory 208, one or more servicerecipes 210 (or sets thereof), one or more service policies 212 (or setsthereof), one or more service analytics elements (“service analytics”)214, combinations thereof, or the like.

The service control 122 also can communicate and/or interact with acommon DCAE 216 (which can correspond to the DCAE illustrated in FIG. 1within the operations management controller 106). In some embodiments,the service control 122 also can include and/or can supportcommunications with a higher level service control function 218 and/or alower service control function 220. The terms “higher” and “lower” asused herein to modify the service control function term is subjective.In particular, the service control function 200, the higher levelservice control function 218, and the lower level service controlfunction 220, can be used to provide a hierarchically arranged servicecontrol structure or framework for a service 134 and/or service elementsor modules. In some embodiments, the hierarchy of service controlfunctions 200, 218, 220 can support north-to-south arrangements ofservice control functions 200, 218, 220. Thus, while service controlfunctions 200 can be configured to communicate with other scope domaincontrollers (e.g., an infrastructure controller of the infrastructurecontrol 112, a network controller of the network control 118, or thelike), the service control functions 200 may not support communicationswith other peer service control functions 200.

The service control functions 200, 218, 220 can exist with the servicescope and can manage components of the service 134 such as, for example,VSFs 124, EMFs 130, VSFMFs 132, combinations thereof, or the like. Theservice control functions 200, 218, 220 can manage orchestration,scaling, and life cycle of the services 134 and/or service functions.The service control functions 200, 218, 220 also can manage error,event, or message handling; obtaining information from services 134and/or components thereof, or the like.

The service control functions 200, 218, 220 also can communicate withthe AAI and/or the service creation database 108, in some embodiments.The service control functions 200, 218, 220 also can communicate withcommon DCAE 216 and/or a local service DCAE such as the service DCAEillustrated in FIGS. 1-2. It can be appreciated that the service DCAEcan include the message handler 204 and the service analytics 214, insome embodiments.

The service controller 202 can operate as the “brain” of the servicecontrol 122. The service controller 202 can be a UDNC-architecturecontrol element. The service controller 202 can monitor the service 134and/or components thereof to ensure performance and/or to detect errors,or the like. The service controller 202 also can manage inventory suchas the service inventory 208 and/or the inventory 110, support updatingof the inventories 110, 208, and/or reconcile the two. Because theservice controller 202 can perform additional and/or alternativefunctions as illustrated and described herein, it should be understoodthat these examples are illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

The adapter function 206 (or combination of adapter functions 206) canbe configured to support or enable communications between the servicecontrol function 200 and/or other elements of the control system 102 orthe service control 122. For example, the adapter function 206 canenable communication between the service control function 200 and theVSFs 124, the EMFs 130, the VSFMFs 132, or the like. The adapterfunction 206 also can support communications between the service controlfunction 200 and lower level service control functions 220 and/or theservice control function 200 and higher level service control functions218. The adapter function 206 also can adapt protocols of messagesreceived at the service control function 200 into a format or protocolthat can be understood and/or acted on by the service control function200.

The message handler 204 can be configured to receive events or messagesand to determine where the message is to be routed based upon messagehandling policies and/or the message contents. The message handlingpolicies can be included in the service policies 212, in someembodiments, though this is not necessarily the case. The messagehandler 204 can be configured to receive a message, to analyze themessage, and to identify routing for the message based upon theanalysis. In some embodiments, the message handler 204 can route themessages to the service controller 202, the service analytics 214, otherentities, or the like, as will be illustrated and described in moredetail below with reference to FIGS. 3-8.

In some embodiments, the message handler 204 can route messages tomultiple entities. For example, the message handler 204 can routemessages to the service controller 202 for various actions and also canroute the message (or a copy of the message) to the service analytics214 for analysis and/or further actions. It should be understood thatthe service analytics 214 and the message handler 204 can collectivelyprovide the service DCAE illustrated and described above with referenceto FIG. 1 and as shown in FIG. 2.

The service policies 212 can include policies used by the servicecontrol function 200 and/or the service control 122 as illustrated anddescribed herein. The service policies 212 can include, but are notlimited to, three types of policies. The service policies 212 caninclude service management policies (labeled “SMP” in FIG. 2) that canbe used by the service controller 202 to make decisions onservice-related messages (e.g., scaling, termination, instantiation,etc.). The service policies 212 also can include message handlingpolicies (labeled “MHP” in FIG. 2) that can be used by the messagehandler 204 and/or other elements (e.g., the service analytics 214) toroute messages and/or to direct messages to various entities. Theservice policies 212 also can include service analytics policies(labeled “SAP” in FIG. 2) that can be used to perform analysis by theservice analytics 214. The service analytics policies can include, forexample, rules or policies for receiving and analyzing messages or otherdata, actions that can be take in response to various states detectedduring the analysis, routing and/or data flows, combinations thereof, orthe like. Because other policies and/or rules are contemplated and arepossible, it should be understood that these examples are illustrativeand therefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The service recipes 210 can include recipes for creating services 134and/or components of the services 134 such as the service controlfunctions 200. The service recipes 210 can reflect the components of theservices 134 and/or how the components are to be configured and/orinstantiated according to various embodiments. The service recipes 210also can identify infrastructure 114 that will be used to supportservices 134 and/or service components such as the service controlfunctions 200 or the like. The service recipes 210 can also define orspecify how the networking aspects of services are supported. Forexample, the service recipes 210 can specify how components of theservice 134 are networked together, communicate with one another, or thelike. In some embodiments, the service control functions 200 can becreated based upon the service recipes 210 and/or deployed toinfrastructure 114 identified by the service recipes 210.

The service analytics 214 can be configured to analyze messages and/orevents to monitor performance of services 134 and/or to triggerresponses to performance issues. For example, the service analytics 214can be configured to analyze a message and determine, based upon themessage and/or service policies 212, that a threshold has been reached(e.g., compute threshold, bandwidth threshold, or the like). Based uponthis determination, the service analytics 214 can determine what actionshould be taken (e.g., suspend the threshold, move the threshold, scalethe service 134 and/or components thereof, combinations thereof, or thelike). It should be understood that these examples are illustrative andtherefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

It can be appreciated with reference to FIG. 2 that the functionalityillustrated and described herein for the service control 122 can besupported by the service control function 200 and/or the variouscomponents thereof as illustrated and described herein with reference toFIGS. 3-8. It also must be understood that the concepts and technologiesdescribed herein for the service control function 200 can be applied tothe network control 118. Thus, a network control function can operate ina manner that is substantially identical to the service control function200, though the network control function can control the VNFs 120 and/orother network functions instead of, or in addition to, the servicefunctions as illustrated and described herein. As such, the examplesherein of a service control function are illustrative of controlfunctions in general and should not be construed as being limiting inany way. Although arrows are drawn between various elements in FIG. 2,it should be understood that messages and/or data can flow between thevarious elements whether or not arrows illustrate such flows. Forexample, communications between the service controller 202 and theinfrastructure control 112 can occur via the adapter function 206, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 3, aspects of a method 300 for deploying a servicecontrol function will be described in detail, according to anillustrative embodiment. It should be understood that the operations ofthe methods disclosed herein are not necessarily presented in anyparticular order and that performance of some or all of the operationsin an alternative order(s) is possible and is contemplated. Theoperations have been presented in the demonstrated order for ease ofdescription and illustration. Operations may be added, omitted, and/orperformed simultaneously, without departing from the scope of theconcepts and technologies disclosed herein.

It also should be understood that the methods disclosed herein can beended at any time and need not be performed in its entirety. Some or alloperations of the methods, and/or substantially equivalent operations,can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions includedon a computer storage media, as defined herein. The term“computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used herein,is used expansively to include routines, applications, applicationmodules, program modules, programs, components, data structures,algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can beimplemented on various system configurations including single-processoror multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based,programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations describedherein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts orprogram modules running on a computing system and/or (2) asinterconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within thecomputing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent onthe performance and other requirements of the computing system.Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred tovariously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules.These states, operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may beimplemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic,and any combination thereof. As used herein, the phrase “cause aprocessor to perform operations” and variants thereof is used to referto causing a processor of a computing system or device, such as thecontrol system 102 and/or other computing devices that can host theservice control function 200 and/or various other elements of theservice control 122 illustrated and described herein, to perform one ormore operations and/or to cause the processor to direct other componentsof the computing system or device to perform one or more of theoperations.

For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the presentdisclosure, the methods disclosed herein are described as beingperformed by the control system 102 via execution of one or moresoftware modules such as, for example, the service control function 200.It should be understood that additional and/or alternative devicesand/or network nodes can provide the functionality described herein viaexecution of one or more modules, applications, and/or other softwareincluding, but not limited to, the service control function 200. Thus,the illustrated embodiments are illustrative, and should not be viewedas being limiting in any way.

The method 300 begins at operation 302. At operation 302, the controlsystem 102 can detect a service creation request. It should beunderstood that the control system 102 can detect the request inoperation 302 or receive the request in operation 302. The requestreceived or detected in operation 302 can correspond to a request forcreation of the new service 134, information detailing what features areto be included in the service 134 being requested, combinations thereof,or the like. In response to detecting or receiving or otherwiseobtaining the request in operation 302, the control system 102 (orcomponents thereof such as the operations management controller 106) canaccess one or more recipes, which can include or define policy rules todetermine how a service 134 such as the new service 134 requested by wayof the request detected or received in operation 302 is to be created,hosted, and/or executed.

The policies and/or rules of the recipes also can indicate the variousrequirements and/or features of the service 134, as well as anarchitecture for the service 134, a list of resources used to providethe service 134, and/or an operational framework associated with theservice 134. The recipes also can specify a service control function 200and/or combination of two or more service control functions 200 and/or ahierarchy of service control functions 200, 218, 220 that will be usedto provide the requested service 134. It should be understood that thisexample is illustrative and therefore should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

From operation 302, the method 300 proceeds to operation 304. Atoperation 304, the control system 102 can determine that a servicecontrol function 200 is to be created for the service requested inoperation 302. As noted above, the control system 102 can determine,according to various embodiments, that the service control function 200(and/or hierarchy of service control functions 200, 218, 220) that areto support the service 134 do not exist. This determination can be basedupon analysis of the service recipes 210, the service inventory 208, theinventory 110, and/or other information. It can be appreciated that ifthe control system 102 instead determined that the service controlfunctions 200 and/or hierarchy of service control functions 200, 218,220 did exist, the service control functions 200 and/or hierarchy ofservice control functions 200, 218, 220 could be allocated or assignedinstead of being created as illustrated and described herein. Ittherefore should be understood that this example is illustrative andtherefore should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Although not separately shown in FIG. 3, it should be understood thatthe control system 102 can determine if the control system 102 cancommunicate with the infrastructure 114 as part of operation 304. Thecontrol system 102 also can determine if networking resources areavailable to support communications needed to create the service controlfunctions 200, 218, 220, or the like. If the communications and/orresources are not supported and/or available, the control system 102 canrequest and/or initiate their creation. It should be understood thatthis example is illustrative and therefore should not be construed asbeing limiting in any way.

From operation 304, the method 300 proceeds to operation 306. Atoperation 306, the control system 102 can obtain a recipe for a servicecontrol function 200. In particular, the control system 102 can accessthe service recipes 210 to determine how a service control function 200and/or a hierarchy of service control functions 200, 218, 220 should becreated for the service 134 requested in operation 302. The servicerecipes 210 can specify how many service control functions 200, 218, 220are to be created, a hierarchy among the service control functions 200,218, 220 (if any), combinations thereof, or the like.

From operation 306, the method 300 proceeds to operation 308. Atoperation 308, the control system 102 can request infrastructure control112 to create infrastructure resources for the service control function200 (or hierarchy of service control functions 200, 218, 220) identifiedor determined in operation 306. According to various embodiments, thecontrol system 102 can use the service recipes 210 and/or other recipesto identify the infrastructure 114 that will be used to support theservice control functions 200 and/or hierarchy of service controlfunctions 200, 218, 220. Because the infrastructure for the servicecontrol functions 200 and/or hierarchy of service control functions 200,218, 220 can be identified in additional and/or alternative manners, itshould be understood that this example is illustrative and thereforeshould not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 308, the method 300 proceeds to operation 310. Atoperation 310, the control system 102 can deploy and configure theservice control function 200 to the resources instantiated by theinfrastructure 114. It should be understood that the control system 102can initiate the deployment and configuration of the service controlfunctions 200 and/or hierarchy of service control functions 200, 218,220 or perform the deployment and/or configuration of the servicecontrol functions 200 and/or hierarchy of service control functions 200,218, 220. As such, it should be understood that the illustratedembodiment is illustrative of some embodiments and should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

From operation 310, the method 300 proceeds to operation 312. The method300 ends at operation 312.

Turning now to FIG. 4, aspects of a method 400 for providing messagehandling at a service control function 200 will be described in detail,according to an illustrative embodiment. The method 400 begins atoperation 402. At operation 402, the control system 102 can receive amessage. According to various embodiments, the message can be receivedfrom various entities including, but not limited to, one or more EMFs130, one or more VSF management functions 132, one or more VSFs 124, oneor more lower level service control functions 220, combinations thereof,or the like.

According to various embodiments, the message can be received at theadapter function 206 executed and/or hosted by the service controlfunction 200 and/or the control system 102. The adapter function 206 cantranslate or modify the message for use within the service controlfunction 200 and/or the control system 102. It can be appreciated thatthe adapter function 206 can include one or more application programminginterfaces (“APIs”), API handlers, and/or API translators fortranslating the message received in operation 402 from a first formatinto a second format, or the like. Because other types of translationsand/or adaptations are possible and are contemplated as illustrated anddescribed hereinabove, it should be understood that these examples areillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

From operation 402, the method 400 proceeds to operation 404. Atoperation 404, the control system 102 can access one or more messagehandling policies. It should be appreciated that the message handlingpolicies can be included in or as a part of the service policies 212. Assuch, in operation 404 the control system 102 can access or analyze theservice policies 212 to access or analyze one or more message handlingpolicies.

From operation 404, the method 400 proceeds to operation 406. Atoperation 406, the control system 102 can determine if a messagehandling policy exists for handling the message received in operation402. The control system 102 can search or analyze the service policies212 to determine if the message or message type received in operation402 is described or addressed by one or more of the message handlingpolicies embodied by the service policies 212. This determination can bemade by determining a message type or other information and comparingthat information to the message handling policies included in orembodied by the service policies 212. Because the control system 102 candetermine if a message handling policy exists in additional and/oralternative ways, it should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 406, that one or moremessage handling policies relating to the message received in operation402 do not exist or are not available, the method 400 can proceed tooperation 408. At operation 408, the control system 102 can take somedefault action with respect to the message. The default action caninclude routing to an alternative destination as well as and/or inaddition to dropping or ignoring the message, responding to the messagewith an error, storing the message, reporting or forwarding the messageto the service analytics 214 and/or the common DCAE 216, combinationsthereof, or the like. The alternative destination also can include, forexample, a higher level service control function 218, a masteroperations management function such as, for example, the operationsmanagement controller 106, and/or other higher level functions ordevices. Thus, it can be appreciated that the message can be forwardedto other entities in operation 408, and that the other entities canperform other forwarding operations.

Returning to operation 406, if the control system 102 determines thatone or more message handling policies relating to the message receivedin operation 402 do exist or are available, the method 400 can insteadproceed from operation 406 to operation 410. At operation 410, thecontrol system 102 can analyze the message received in operation 402 andone or more message handling policies determined to exist in operation406 to determine routing for the message.

The message handling policies can specify, for example, that the messageis to be routed to the service controller 202, that the message is to berouted to the service analytics 214, and/or that the message is to berouted to both the service controller 202 and the service analytics 214.Because the message handling policies can specify additional and/oralternative destinations for the message, it should be understood thatthis example is illustrative and therefore should not be construed asbeing limiting in any way.

From operation 410, the method 400 proceeds to operation 412. Atoperation 412, the control system 102 can route the message received inoperation 402. The control system 102 can route the message inaccordance with the routing determined in operation 410. Thus, thecontrol system 102, or the message handler 204 hosted or executed by thecontrol system 102, can route the message to the service controller 202,the service analytics 214, other destinations, and/or combinationsthereof.

From operation 412, the method 400 proceeds to operation 414. The method400 ends at operation 414.

Turning now to FIG. 5, aspects of a method 500 for providing messagehandling at a service control function for peer scope controllermessages will be described in detail, according to an illustrativeembodiment. The method 500 begins at operation 502. At operation 502,the control system 102 can receive a message. The message received inoperation 502 can be received from one or more of various peer scopecontrollers including, but not limited to, an infrastructure controllerwithin infrastructure control 112, a network controller within networkcontrol 118, combinations thereof, or the like.

From operation 502, the method 500 proceeds to operation 504. Atoperation 504, the control system 102 can translate or adapt the messagereceived in operation 502 for use within the service control function200 and/or the control system 102 that can host or execute the servicecontrol function 200. In particular, the message received in operation502 can be received at the adapter function 206 executed and/or hostedby the service control function 200 and/or the control system 102. Asexplained above, the adapter function 206 can translate or modify themessage for use within the service control function 200 and/or thecontrol system 102.

From operation 504, the method 500 proceeds to operation 506. Atoperation 506, the control system 102 can access and/or analyze theservice policies 212. From operation 506, the method 500 proceeds tooperation 508. At operation 508, the control system 102 can determine ifa service policy 212 exists for the message received in operation 502.In particular, the control system 102 can search or analyze the servicepolicies 212 to determine if the message or message type received inoperation 502 is described or addressed by one or more of the policiesembodied by the service policies 212. Because the control system 102 candetermine if a service policy 212 exists in additional and/oralternative ways, it should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 508, that one or moreservice policies 212 relating to the message received in operation 502do not exist or are not available, the method 500 can proceed tooperation 510. At operation 510, the control system 102 can take adefault action. The default action can include routing the message north(or up) to an alternative destination, ignoring or “dropping” themessage, storing the message for future analysis and/or use, respondingto the message with an error, reporting or forwarding the message, orthe like. Because other actions can be taken by default, it should beunderstood that these examples are illustrative and should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

Returning to operation 508, if the control system 102 determines thatone or more service policies 212 relating to the message received inoperation 502 do exist or are available, the method 500 can proceed fromoperation 508 to operation 512. At operation 512, the control system 102can analyze the message received in operation 502 and one or more of theservice policies 212 determined to exist in operation 508 to determinean action to take with respect to or in response to the message receivedin operation 502. For example, the control system 102 can determine, inoperation 512, that a service 134 should be moved to new infrastructure114 in response to receiving a message from the infrastructure control112 that new resources have been instantiated (e.g., to host the service134 after failure of other infrastructure). By way of another example,the control system 102 can determine, in operation 512, that new oralternative network transport should be used to support the service 134in response to receiving a message from the network control 118 that newnetwork transport and/or other resources have been created, allocated,instantiated, or the like. It should be understood that these examplesare illustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limitingin any way.

From operation 512, the method 500 proceeds to operation 514. Atoperation 514, the control system 102 can initiate the action determinedin operation 512 (for example, by execution of the service controller202). Thus, in operation 514, the control system 102 can modify theservice 134 and/or one or more components thereof (e.g., the VSFs 124,the EMFs 130, the VSF management functions 132, or the like), initiatereassignment or relocation of one or more components of the service 134,change messaging rules or policies, modify the service inventory 208and/or the inventory 110, route messages or events to the service DCAEand/or components thereof (e.g., the message handler 204 and/or theservice analytics 214), notify the service controller 202 of changes orevents, combinations thereof, or the like. Because additional and/oralternative actions are possible and are contemplated, it should beunderstood that these examples are illustrative and therefore should notbe construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 514, the method 500 proceeds to operation 516. The method500 ends at operation 516.

Turning now to FIG. 6, aspects of a method 600 for providing messagehandling at a service control function 200 for higher-level elementmessages will be described in detail, according to an illustrativeembodiment. The method 600 begins at operation 602. At operation 602,the control system 102 can receive a message. The message received inoperation 602 can be received from one or more higher-level elementswithin service control 122, the control system 102, and/or elsewhere. Invarious embodiments, the message received in operation 602 can bereceived from a higher level service control function 218, an operationsmanagement function such as the operations management controller 106,combinations thereof, or the like.

From operation 602, the method 600 proceeds to operation 604. Atoperation 604, the control system 102 can translate or adapt the messagereceived in operation 602 for use within the service control function200 and/or the control system 102 that can host or execute the servicecontrol function 200. In particular, the message received in operation602 can be received at the adapter function 206 executed and/or hostedby the service control function 200 and/or the control system 102. Asexplained above, the adapter function 206 can translate or modify themessage for use within the service control function 200 and/or thecontrol system 102.

From operation 604, the method 600 proceeds to operation 606. Atoperation 606, the control system 102 can access and/or analyze theservice policies 212. From operation 606, the method 600 proceeds tooperation 608. At operation 608, the control system 102 can determine ifa service policy 212 exists for the message received in operation 602.In particular, the control system 102 can search or analyze the servicepolicies 212 to determine if the message or message type received inoperation 602 is described or addressed by one or more of the policiesembodied by the service policies 212. Because the control system 102 candetermine if a service policy 212 exists in additional and/oralternative ways, it should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 608, that one or moreservice policies 212 relating to the message received in operation 602do not exist or are not available, the method 600 can proceed tooperation 610. At operation 610, the control system 102 can take adefault action. The default action can include ignoring or “dropping”the message, storing the message for future analysis and/or use,responding to the message with an error, reporting or forwarding themessage, routing the message to other elements or destinations,combinations thereof, or the like. Because other actions can be taken bydefault, it should be understood that these examples are illustrativeand should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Returning to operation 608, if the control system 102 determines thatone or more service policies 212 relating to the message received inoperation 602 do exist or are available, the method 600 can proceed fromoperation 608 to operation 612. At operation 612, the control system 102can analyze the message received in operation 602 and one or more of theservice policies 212 determined to exist in operation 608 to determinean action to take with respect to or in response to the message receivedin operation 602. It should be appreciated that the functionality of thecontrol system 102 with respect to operation 612 can be, but is notnecessarily, similar or even identical to the functionality of thecontrol system 102 illustrated and described above with reference tooperation 512 in FIG. 5.

For example, the control system 102 can determine, in operation 612,that a service 134 should be moved, that network transport should bemodified for the service 134, that messaging functions should be changedor modified, that policies should be modified, combinations thereof, orthe like. Because additional and/or alternative actions can bedetermined in operation 612, it should be understood that these examplesare illustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limitingin any way.

From operation 612, the method 600 proceeds to operation 614. Atoperation 614, the control system 102 can initiate the action determinedin operation 612. It should be appreciated that the functionality of thecontrol system 102 with respect to operation 614 can be, but is notnecessarily, similar or even identical to the functionality of thecontrol system 102 illustrated and described above with reference tooperation 514 in FIG. 5. As such, the control system 102 can modify orinitiate modification of the service 134 and/or one or more componentsthereof; reassign, relocate, and/or initiate reassignment or relocationof one or more components of the service 134; change or initiatechanging of one or more messaging rules or policies; modify or initiatemodification of the service inventory 208 and/or the inventory 110;route or initiate routing of one or more messages or events to theservice DCAE, the common DCAE 216 and/or components thereof; notify orinitiate notification of the service controller 202 of changes;combinations thereof; or the like. Because additional and/or alternativeactions are possible and are contemplated, it should be understood thatthese examples are illustrative and therefore should not be construed asbeing limiting in any way.

From operation 614, the method 600 proceeds to operation 616. The method600 ends at operation 616.

Turning now to FIG. 7, aspects of a method 700 for executing a datacollection, analytics, and event handling (“DCAE”) process at a servicecontrol function 200 will be described in detail, according to anillustrative embodiment. It should be understood that the method 700 canbe performed in conjunction with other message handling processesillustrated and described herein, though this is not necessarily thecase.

The method 700 begins at operation 702. At operation 702, the controlsystem 102 can receive a message. According to various embodiments, themessage can be received from various entities including, but not limitedto, one or more lower-level entities such as EMFs 130, VSF managementfunctions 132, VSFs 124, lower level service control functions 220,combinations thereof, or the like; one or more higher-level entitiessuch as higher level service control functions 218, the operationsmanagement controller 106 and/or other operations management functionsor entities; one or more peer entities such as an entity withininfrastructure control 112 and/or network control 118; combinationsthereof; or the like.

According to various embodiments, the message received in operation 702can be received at the adapter function 206 executed and/or hosted bythe service control function 200 and/or the control system 102 asexplained above. The adapter function 206 can translate or modify themessage for use within the service control function 200 and/or thecontrol system 102.

From operation 702, the method 700 proceeds to operation 704. Atoperation 704, the control system 102 can access one or more messagehandling policies for DCAE functions. Thus, it can be appreciated thatthe functionality of the control system 102 illustrated and describedherein with reference to operation 704 can complement and/or supplementother message handling policy searches and/or analysis for handlingmessages and/or determination actions based upon the messages. As such,in operation 704 the control system 102 can access or analyze theservice policies 212 to access or analyze one or more message handlingpolicies that relate to DCAE processes in addition to, or instead of,other types of message handling policies. Because the DCAE messagehandling policies can be stored separately from other service policies212 and/or message handling policies in some embodiments, it should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

From operation 704, the method 700 proceeds to operation 706. Atoperation 706, the control system 102 can determine if a DCAE messagehandling policy exists for the message received in operation 702. Inparticular, the control system 102 can be configured to search oranalyze the service policies 212 and/or one or more DCAE messagehandling policies to determine if a DCAE message handling policy isrelevant to or relates to the message or message type received inoperation 702. The control system 102 can be make this determination bydetermining a message type or other information and comparing thatinformation to the DCAE message handling policies included in orembodied by the service policies 212 or message handling policies.Because the control system 102 can determine if a DCAE message handlingpolicy exists in additional and/or alternative ways, it should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 706, that one or moreDCAE message handling policies relating to the message received inoperation 702 do not exist or are not available, the method 700 canproceed to operation 708. At operation 708, the control system 102 cantake a default action. The default action can include routing themessage to an alternative recipient, element, or other destination;ignoring or “dropping” the message; storing the message for futureanalysis and/or use; responding to the message with an error; reportingor forwarding the message; combinations thereof, or the like. Becauseother actions can be taken by default, it should be understood thatthese examples are illustrative and should not be construed as beinglimiting in any way.

If the control system 102 instead determines, in operation 706, that oneor more DCAE message handling policies relating to the message receivedin operation 702 exist or are available, the method 700 can proceed tooperation 710. At operation 710, the control system 102 can analyze themessage received in operation 702 and the one or more DCAE messagehandling policies determined to exist in operation 706 to determinerouting for the message.

The DCAE message handling policies can specify, for example, that themessage is to be routed to the service DCAE (e.g., the service analytics214 component of the service DCAE), that the message is to be routed tothe common DCAE 216, and/or that the message is to be routed to one ormore of the service DCAE and/or the common DCAE 216. The DCAE messagehandling policies also can specify that the message should additionallybe routed to the service controller 202, as will be explained in moredetail below with reference to operation 712. Because the DCAE messagehandling policies can specify additional and/or alternative destinationsfor the message, it should be understood that this example isillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

From operation 710, the method 700 proceeds to operation 712. Atoperation 712, the control system 102 can route the message received inoperation 702 to the service analytics 214 and/or to the common DCAE 216via the service analytics 214. In particular, in some embodiments, theservice analytics 214 can receive the message and route the message tothe common DCAE 216, do nothing with the message, execute some defaultbehavior, and/or take other actions.

From operation 712, the method 700 can proceed to operation 714. Thecontrol system 102 optionally can route the message to the servicecontroller 202. In some embodiments, the service controller 202 canroute the message to the operations management controller 106, and theoperations management controller 106 can route the message to anotherdestination. For example, the operations management controller 106 mayroute the message to an entity within another scope such as, forexample, an infrastructure scope, a network scope, or the like. Theoperations management controller 106 also may route the message to thecommon DCAE 216 or other entities, if desired. Because the message canbe routed to additional and/or alternative destinations, and because thedestination can be identified in additional and/or alternative manners,it should be understood that this example is illustrative and thereforeshould not be construed as being limiting in any way.

It should be understood that some DCAE message handling policies mayonly specify routing to the service DCAE and/or the common DCAE 216. Insome embodiments, the service analytics 214 may analyze the message andthen access additional message handling policies that may specify, forexample, that the message also should be routed to the servicecontroller 202. As such, operation 712 can include a second level ofrouting that may occur in addition to, or instead of, the routingillustrated with respect to operation 710. Thus, the control system 102,or the message handler 204 hosted or executed by the control system 102,can route the message to the service controller 202, the serviceanalytics 214, the common DCAE 216, other destinations, and/orcombinations thereof

From operation 712, the method 700 proceeds to operation 714. The method700 ends at operation 714.

Turning now to FIG. 8, aspects of a method 800 for providing messagehandling at a service control function 200 will be described in detail,according to an illustrative embodiment. While several methods formessage handling have been illustrated and described herein, it can beappreciated that the method 800 can provide a general message handlingprocess or method that can be used in accordance with variousembodiments of the concepts and technologies described herein.

The method 800 begins at operation 802. At operation 802, the controlsystem 102 can receive a message. The message received in operation 802can be received from one or more lower-level entities such as EMFs 130,VSF management functions 132, VSFs 124, lower level service controlfunctions 220, combinations thereof, or the like; one or morehigher-level entities such as higher level service control functions218, the operations management controller 106 and/or other operationsmanagement functions or entities; one or more peer entities such as anentity within infrastructure control 112 and/or network control 118;combinations thereof; or the like.

Although not separately illustrated in FIG. 8, it should be understoodthat the control system 102 can translate or adapt the message receivedin operation 802 for use within the service control function 200 and/orthe control system 102 that can host or execute the service controlfunction 200. In particular, the message received in operation 802 canbe received at the adapter function 206 executed and/or hosted by theservice control function 200 and/or the control system 102.

From operation 802, the method 800 proceeds to operation 804. Atoperation 804, the control system 102 can determine if a service policy212 exists for the message received in operation 802. In particular, thecontrol system 102 can search or analyze the service policies 212 todetermine if the message or message type received in operation 802 isdescribed or addressed by one or more of the policies embodied by theservice policies 212. Because the control system 102 can determine if aservice policy 212 exists in additional and/or alternative ways, itshould be understood that this example is illustrative and thereforeshould not be construed as being limiting in any way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 804, that one or moreservice policies 212 relating to the message received in operation 802do not exist or are not available, the method 800 can proceed tooperation 806. At operation 806, the control system 102 can take adefault action. The default action can include ignoring or “dropping”the message, storing the message for future analysis and/or use,responding to the message with an error, reporting or forwarding themessage, routing the message to other elements or destinations,combinations thereof, or the like. Because other actions can be taken bydefault, it should be understood that these examples are illustrativeand should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Returning to operation 804, if the control system 102 determines thatone or more service policies 212 relating to the message received inoperation 802 do exist or are available, the method 800 can proceed fromoperation 804 to operation 808. At operation 808, the control system 102can analyze the message received in operation 802 and one or more of theservice policies 212 determined to exist in operation 804 to determinean action to take with respect to or in response to the message receivedin operation 802. For example, the control system 102 can determine, inoperation 808, that a service 134 should be moved to new infrastructure114, that new resources should be instantiated, that new or alternativenetwork transport should be used to support the service 134, thatscaling should be performed for the service 134 or components thereof,that a DCAE analysis and/or message routing should occur, combinationsthereof, or the like. Because other types of actions may be determinedin operation 808, it should be understood that these examples areillustrative and therefore should not be construed as being limiting inany way.

From operation 808, the method 800 proceeds to operation 810. Atoperation 810, the control system 102 can initiate the action determinedin operation 808. Thus, in operation 810, the control system 102 canmodify the service 134 and/or one or more components thereof, initiatereassignment or relocation of one or more components of the service 134,initiate instantiation of one or more components or resources, initiatechanges to messaging rules or policies, initiate modification of theservice inventory 208 and/or the inventory 110, initiate routing ofmessages or events to the service DCAE and/or components thereof,initiate notification of the service controller 202 of changes orevents, combinations thereof, or the like. Because additional and/oralternative actions are possible and are contemplated, it should beunderstood that these examples are illustrative and therefore should notbe construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 810, the method 800 proceeds to operation 812. The method800 ends at operation 812.

Turning now to FIG. 9, aspects of a method 900 for creating events at aservice control function 200 will be described in detail, according toan illustrative embodiment. It should be understood that the method 900can be performed in conjunction with other message handling processesillustrated and described herein, though this is not necessarily thecase.

The method 900 begins at operation 902. At operation 902, the controlsystem 102 can obtain an analysis result. It can be appreciated that theanalysis result obtained in operation 902 can be obtained at a serviceanalytics 214, and that the analysis result can be an output or datastored as a result of analyzing a message as illustrated and describedabove with reference to FIGS. 4-8.

From operation 902, the method 900 proceeds to operation 904. Atoperation 904, the control system 102 can access one or more serviceanalytics polices or other service policies 212. From operation 904, themethod 900 proceeds to operation 906. At operation 906, the controlsystem 102 can determine if a service analytics policy exists for theanalysis result obtained in operation 902. In particular, the controlsystem 102 can be configured to search or analyze the service analyticspolicies to determine if a policy exists that is relevant to or relatesto the analysis result obtained in operation 902. The control system 102can be make this determination by determining a result, a result type,or other information and comparing that information to the serviceanalytics policies included in or embodied by the service policies 212.Because the control system 102 can determine if a service analyticspolicy exists in additional and/or alternative ways, it should beunderstood that this example is illustrative and therefore should not beconstrued as being limiting in any way.

If the control system 102 determines, in operation 906, that one or moreservice analytics policies relating to the message received in operation902 do not exist or are not available, the method 900 can proceed tooperation 908. At operation 908, the control system 102 can take adefault action. The default action can include doing nothing with theanalysis result, storing the analysis result for future use and/orfurther analysis, other actions, combinations thereof, or the like.Because other actions can be taken by default, it should be understoodthat these examples are illustrative and should not be construed asbeing limiting in any way.

If the control system 102 instead determines, in operation 906, that oneor more service analytics policies relating to the analysis resultobtained in operation 902 exist or are available, the method 900 canproceed to operation 910. At operation 910, the control system 102 cananalyze the analysis result obtained in operation 902 and the one ormore service analytics policies determined to exist in operation 906 tocreate an event and/or determine routing for the event created basedupon the analysis result.

The event can include a message that can be routed to the servicecontroller 202, the common DCAE 216, or both. It should be understoodthat the event can include a message that can be routed to otherdestinations such as, for example, an infrastructure controller includedin the infrastructure control 112, a network controller included in thenetwork control 118, other destinations, combinations thereof, or thelike. From operation 910, the method 900 proceeds to operation 912. Atoperation 912, the control system 102 can route the event created inoperation 910 to the service controller 202, the common DCAE 216, orboth in accordance with the routing determined in operation 910.

From operation 912, the method 900 proceeds to operation 914. The method900 ends at operation 914.

Turning now to FIG. 10, additional details of the network 104 areillustrated, according to an illustrative embodiment. The network 104includes a cellular network 1002, a packet data network 1004, forexample, the Internet, and a circuit switched network 1006, for example,a publicly switched telephone network (“PSTN”). The cellular network1002 includes various components such as, but not limited to, basetransceiver stations (“BTSs”), Node-B's or e-Node-B's, base stationcontrollers (“BSCs”), radio network controllers (“RNCs”), mobileswitching centers (“MSCs”), mobile management entities (“MMEs”), shortmessage service centers (“SMSCs”), multimedia messaging service centers(“MMSCs”), home location registers (“HLRs”), home subscriber servers(“HSSs”), visitor location registers (“VLRs”), charging platforms,billing platforms, voicemail platforms, GPRS core network components,location service nodes, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (“IMS”), and thelike. The cellular network 1002 also includes radios and nodes forreceiving and transmitting voice, data, and combinations thereof to andfrom radio transceivers, networks, the packet data network 1004, and thecircuit switched network 1006.

A mobile communications device 1008, such as, for example, a cellulartelephone, a user equipment, a mobile terminal, a PDA, a laptopcomputer, a handheld computer, and combinations thereof, can beoperatively connected to the cellular network 1002. The cellular network1002 can be configured as a 2G GSM network and can provide datacommunications via GPRS and/or EDGE. Additionally, or alternatively, thecellular network 1002 can be configured as a 3G UMTS network and canprovide data communications via the HSPA protocol family, for example,HSDPA, EUL (also referred to as HSDPA), and HSPA+. The cellular network1002 also is compatible with 4G mobile communications standards as wellas evolved and future mobile standards.

The packet data network 1004 includes various devices, for example,servers, computers, databases, and other devices in communication withone another, as is generally known. The packet data network 1004 devicesare accessible via one or more network links. The servers often storevarious files that are provided to a requesting device such as, forexample, a computer, a terminal, a smartphone, or the like. Typically,the requesting device includes software (a “browser”) for executing aweb page in a format readable by the browser or other software. Otherfiles and/or data may be accessible via “links” in the retrieved files,as is generally known. In some embodiments, the packet data network 1004includes or is in communication with the Internet. The circuit switchednetwork 1006 includes various hardware and software for providingcircuit switched communications. The circuit switched network 1006 mayinclude, or may be, what is often referred to as a plain old telephonesystem (POTS). The functionality of a circuit switched network 1006 orother circuit-switched network are generally known and will not bedescribed herein in detail.

The illustrated cellular network 1002 is shown in communication with thepacket data network 1004 and a circuit switched network 1006, though itshould be appreciated that this is not necessarily the case. One or moreInternet-capable devices 1010, for example, a PC, a laptop, a portabledevice, or another suitable device, can communicate with one or morecellular networks 1002, and devices connected thereto, through thepacket data network 1004. It also should be appreciated that theInternet-capable device 1010 can communicate with the packet datanetwork 1004 through the circuit switched network 1006, the cellularnetwork 1002, and/or via other networks (not illustrated).

As illustrated, a communications device 1012, for example, a telephone,facsimile machine, modem, computer, or the like, can be in communicationwith the circuit switched network 1006, and therethrough to the packetdata network 1004 and/or the cellular network 1002. It should beappreciated that the communications device 1012 can be anInternet-capable device, and can be substantially similar to theInternet-capable device 1010. In the specification, the network 104 isused to refer broadly to any combination of the networks 1002, 1004,1006. It should be appreciated that substantially all of thefunctionality described with reference to the network 104 can beperformed by the cellular network 1002, the packet data network 1004,and/or the circuit switched network 1006, alone or in combination withother networks, network elements, and the like.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system 1100configured to provide the functionality described herein for creatingand using service control functions, in accordance with variousembodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein. Thecomputer system 1100 includes a processing unit 1102, a memory 1104, oneor more user interface devices 1106, one or more input/output (“I/O”)devices 1108, and one or more network devices 1110, each of which isoperatively connected to a system bus 1112. The bus 1112 enablesbi-directional communication between the processing unit 1102, thememory 1104, the user interface devices 1106, the I/O devices 1108, andthe network devices 1110.

The processing unit 1102 may be a standard central processor thatperforms arithmetic and logical operations, a more specific purposeprogrammable logic controller (“PLC”), a programmable gate array, orother type of processor known to those skilled in the art and suitablefor controlling the operation of the server computer. As used herein,the word “processor” and/or the phrase “processing unit” when used withregard to any architecture or system can include multiple processors orprocessing units distributed across and/or operating in parallel in asingle machine or in multiple machines. Furthermore, processors and/orprocessing units can be used to support virtual processing environments.Processors and processing units also can include state machines,application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), combinationsthereof, or the like. Because processors and/or processing units aregenerally known, the processors and processing units disclosed hereinwill not be described in further detail herein.

The memory 1104 communicates with the processing unit 1102 via thesystem bus 1112. In some embodiments, the memory 1104 is operativelyconnected to a memory controller (not shown) that enables communicationwith the processing unit 1102 via the system bus 1112. The memory 1104includes an operating system 1114 and one or more program modules 1116.The operating system 1114 can include, but is not limited to, members ofthe WINDOWS, WINDOWS CE, and/or WINDOWS MOBILE families of operatingsystems from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, the LINUX family of operatingsystems, the SYMBIAN family of operating systems from SYMBIAN LIMITED,the BREW family of operating systems from QUALCOMM CORPORATION, the MACOS, iOS, and/or LEOPARD families of operating systems from APPLECORPORATION, the FREEBSD family of operating systems, the SOLARIS familyof operating systems from ORACLE CORPORATION, other operating systems,and the like.

The program modules 1116 may include various software and/or programmodules described herein. In some embodiments, for example, the programmodules 1116 include the operations management controller 106, theinfrastructure control 112, the network control 118, the service control122 (and/or the elements thereof as shown in FIG. 2), the service 134(and/or the components thereof shown in FIG. 1), combinations thereof,or the like. These and/or other programs or modules can be embodied incomputer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed bythe processing unit 1102, cause the computer system 1100 or one or morecomponents thereof to perform one or more of the methods 300, 400, 500,600, 700, 800, 900 described in detail above with respect to FIGS. 3-9.According to embodiments, the program modules 1116 may be embodied inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Although notshown in FIG. 11, it should be understood that the memory 1104 also canbe configured to store the service creation database 108, the inventory110, higher level service control function 218, the lower level servicecontrol function 220, and/or other programs or data, if desired.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media mayinclude any available computer storage media or communication media thatcan be accessed by the computer system 1100. Communication mediaincludes computer-readable instructions, data structures, programmodules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier waveor other transport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term“modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics changed or set in a manner as to encode information inthe signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediaincludes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection,and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wirelessmedia. Combinations of the any of the above should also be includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but isnot limited to, RAM, ROM, Erasable Programmable ROM (“EPROM”),Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (“EEPROM”), flash memory or othersolid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”),or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and which can beaccessed by the computer system 1100. In the claims, the phrase“computer storage medium” and variations thereof does not include wavesor signals per se and/or communication media.

The user interface devices 1106 may include one or more devices withwhich a user accesses the computer system 1100. The user interfacedevices 1106 may include, but are not limited to, computers, servers,personal digital assistants, cellular phones, or any suitable computingdevices. The I/O devices 1108 enable a user to interface with theprogram modules 1116. In one embodiment, the I/O devices 1108 areoperatively connected to an I/O controller (not shown) that enablescommunication with the processing unit 1102 via the system bus 1112. TheI/O devices 1108 may include one or more input devices, such as, but notlimited to, a keyboard, a mouse, or an electronic stylus. Further, theI/O devices 1108 may include one or more output devices, such as, butnot limited to, a display screen or a printer.

The network devices 1110 enable the computer system 1100 to communicatewith other networks or remote systems via a network, such as the network104. Examples of the network devices 1110 include, but are not limitedto, a modem, a radio frequency (“RF”) or infrared (“IR”) transceiver, atelephonic interface, a bridge, a router, or a network card. The network104 may include a wireless network such as, but not limited to, aWireless Local Area Network (“WLAN”) such as a WI-FI network, a WirelessWide Area Network (“WWAN”), a Wireless Personal Area Network (“WPAN”)such as BLUETOOTH, a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (“WMAN”) such aWiMAX network, or a cellular network. Alternatively, the network 104 maybe a wired network such as, but not limited to, a Wide Area Network(“WAN”) such as the Internet, a Local Area Network (“LAN”) such as theEthernet, a wired Personal Area Network (“PAN”), or a wired MetropolitanArea Network (“MAN”).

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that systems andmethods for creating and using service control functions have beendisclosed herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has beendescribed in language specific to computer structural features,methodological and transformative acts, specific computing machinery,and computer-readable media, it is to be understood that the conceptsand technologies disclosed herein are not necessarily limited to thespecific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specificfeatures, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms ofimplementing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustrationonly and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications andchanges may be made to the subject matter described herein withoutfollowing the example embodiments and applications illustrated anddescribed, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of theembodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein.

1. A method comprising: receiving, at a control system that comprises aprocessor and a memory, a message that relates to a performance issueassociated with a service that is controlled by a service controlfunction, wherein the service control function is a component of aservice control that is stored in the memory; determining, by theprocessor, a message type associated with the message; determining, bythe processor and based on analyzing message handling policies, if thereexists a message handling policy that relates to the message type; if adetermination is made that there exists the message handling policy thatrelates to the message type, routing, by the processor, the message inaccordance with the message handing policy that relates to the messagetype; and if a determination is made that there does not exist themessage handling policy that relates to the message type, executing, bythe processor, a default action specified by a default message handlingpolicy to route the message.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: translating, by the processor, the message from a firstformat associated with a peer domain scope controller to a second formatassociated with the service control function, wherein the message isreceived from the peer domain scope controller in the first format. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the processor communicates withinfrastructure using an application programming interface exposed by theservice control, wherein the service is installed on the infrastructure.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the service comprises a virtualservice function, a virtual service function management function, and anetwork element management function.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe message is received via an adapter function, wherein the servicecontrol comprises a higher level service control function, the servicecontrol function, and a lower level service control function, andwherein the service control function comprises the adapter function, amessage handler, and a service inventory.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: accessing, by the processor, service policies thatdefine handling of the message; determining, by the processor, an actionto take with respect to the message based on contents of the message andbased on the service policies; and initiating, by the processor, theaction based on the determining.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein theservice is installed on infrastructure, and wherein the servicecomprises a virtual service function, a virtual service functionmanagement function, and a network element management function.
 8. Asystem comprising: a processor; and a memory that storescomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor,cause the processor to perform operations comprising receiving a messagethat relates to a performance issue associated with a service that iscontrolled by a service control function, wherein the service controlfunction is a component of a service control that is stored in thememory, determining a message type associated with the message,determining, based on analyzing message handling policies, if thereexists a message handling policy that relates to the message type, if adetermination is made that there exists the message handling policy thatrelates to the message type, routing the message in accordance with themessage handing policy that relates to the message type, and if adetermination is made that there does not exist the message handlingpolicy that relates to the message type, executing a default actionspecified by a default message handling policy to route the message. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the computer-executable instructions,when executed by the processor, cause the processor to performoperations further comprising: translating, by the processor, themessage from a first format associated with a peer domain scopecontroller to a second format associated with the service controlfunction, wherein the message is received from the peer domain scopecontroller in the first format.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, causethe processor to perform operations further comprising: communicatingwith infrastructure using an application programming interface exposedby the service control, wherein the service is installed on theinfrastructure.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the service isinstalled on infrastructure, and wherein the service comprises a virtualservice function, a virtual service function management function, and anetwork element management function.
 12. The system of claim 8, whereinthe message is received via an adapter function, wherein the servicecontrol comprises a higher level service control function, the servicecontrol function, and a lower level service control function, andwherein the service control function comprises the adapter function, amessage handler, and a service inventory.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising:accessing service policies that define handling of the message;determining an action to take with respect to the message based oncontents of the message and based on the service policies; andinitiating the action based on the determining.
 14. A computer storagemedium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving a message that relates to a performance issueassociated with a service that is controlled by a service controlfunction, wherein the service control function is a component of aservice control; determining a message type associated with the message;determining, based on analyzing message handling policies, if thereexists a message handling policy that relates to the message type; if adetermination is made that there exists the message handling policy thatrelates to the message type, routing the message in accordance with themessage handing policy that relates to the message type; and if adetermination is made that there does not exist the message handlingpolicy that relates to the message type, executing a default actionspecified by a default message handling policy to route the message. 15.The computer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the computer-executableinstructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor toperform operations further comprising: translating, by the processor,the message from a first format associated with a peer domain scopecontroller to a second format associated with the service controlfunction, wherein the message is received from the peer domain scopecontroller in the first format.
 16. The computer storage medium of claim14, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations further comprising:communicating with infrastructure using an application programminginterface exposed by the service control, wherein the service isinstalled on the infrastructure.
 17. The computer storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the service comprises a virtual service function, avirtual service function management function, and a network elementmanagement function.
 18. The computer storage medium of claim 14,wherein the service is installed on infrastructure, and wherein theservice comprises a virtual service function, a virtual service functionmanagement function, and a network element management function.
 19. Thecomputer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the message is received viaan adapter function, wherein the service control comprises a higherlevel service control function, the service control function, and alower level service control function, and wherein the service controlfunction comprises the adapter function, a message handler, and aservice inventory.
 20. The computer storage medium of claim 14, whereinthe computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor,cause the processor to perform operations further comprising: accessingservice policies that define handling of the message; determining anaction to take with respect to the message based on contents of themessage and based on the service policies; and initiating the actionbased on the determining.